God was their yardstick, butIncomprehensibly—Truth is, Jehovah isMerely a Mac.

So, yeah, CNN is reporting about a Beeb documentary on the Secrets of the Superbrands. The big news that CNN takes from it is that Mac devotees’ brains (as measured by MRI) light up when they are viewing Apple gadgets the same way that religious devotees’ brains light up when they see images of their god.

But of course, the interpretation is all wrong. They say that iPads, for instance, benefit from MacHeads’ “god-like devotion”… No, actually. God (whichever god you choose) inspires Mac-like devotion. I doubt very much that an area of the brain evolved to deal with stuff that is not there. I suspect, rather, that it developed to deal with stuff that is actually there, and was hijacked by a fiction.

I have often wondered whether the areas of the brain that light up for religious devotion, might light up for pop stars, movie idols, favorite authors, or the like. It would surprise me greatly if the feeling of awe inspired by a god and the feeling of awe inspired by a Van Gogh are differentially located in the brain. Evolution is a notorious tinkerer, and re-uses stuff all the time: “Love, pain, money, cocaine light up same area of brain“, suggests one title. So, no surprise that iPads and gods are similarly wired.

What would have been extraordinary would be if god-perception was utterly unique. That would be remarkable, actually. But that, I suspect, would require intelligent design. No such luck.

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I have to admire a marketing organization that manages to create such a cult-like following among its customers — in this, Apple resembles many churches. (I'll leave it up to you to decide who has learned the art from whom, and who is currently the best):Willfully, skillfullyFruits of the Apple treePreach from the Book of Jobs:“What should you buy?”Macheads absorb it allMonodeistically,Hone to perfection theirEye for an i.P.S. My first attempt at a double dactyl!